Pastor's Spiritual Reflections

By Fr. Leo Schneider (7/27/2008)

Dear People of Holy Name,

If each of us could ask God for one thing and he would grant it, what would it be?

This is the question the Lord asks Solomon in a dream, where his response could have been as creative and imaginative as could be. Solomon, already a sign of wisdom, doesn’t ask for long life, riches, or revenge of his enemies but asks for understanding, that he may lead God’s people and know what is right.

When we advance in spiritually, I think it is the gift of understanding that is more desirous than anything else. Every other desire serves the self, but understanding gives insight into the hearts and minds of God, his creation, and his people. In our prayers, we pray for good health, healing, peace in the world, the wellbeing of ourselves and others. How often do we pray for the gift of understanding, not to change things or make things the way we want, but to understand how God may be at work in the things we don’t like?

Just as there can be calm before the storm, sometimes I think there can be a storm before the calm. Our trials can make us who we are and can move us forward in life. We grow when we challenge ourselves,, and develop gifts and talents we never thought we would have. At one point in my own life, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get up in front of people and speak. Now I can’t shut-up.

Then there are the trials that move us forward. When things don’t work out we learn from them and let the pain move us on to something better. This is most evident in relationships that don’t work out, even people who have married that shouldn’t have. When a relationship causes more pain than good and there isn’t any realistic hope for a future, it is time to move on. Not to say that good relationships don’t have very painful periods, they do, but when there is no realistic hope, it is time to give up the false dream so a person can move again to a place of hope for the future.

We need to know which pain is which. Is it growth pain or the pain that moves us to a new place of greater growth? Now, if we were to pray that God take away all our pain we would be working against our own best interest wouldn’t we? This is where it is wisest to pray for understanding. What might God be saying to me in the midst of my struggles?

I think if we really believed that God wants what is best for us, and truly wants us to be happy, then I think it would be easier for us to pray for understanding and for his will to be done in our lives. God does want us to be happy and wants us to live in his joy. Trusting in his goodness we can abandon ourselves to him and pray that he bless us and lead and guide us to our hearts desire.

Solomon’s prayer is very inspiring and makes us think about what is ultimately important in our lives. I think we would be wise to pray as he prayed and to ask for one thing in our lives and that is the gift of understanding, to know the Lord and his will in our lives. Such a prayer puts trust in his love for us and inspires hope for a future that will be rich.

Let us pray to God with all our needs and the needs of all humanity, but let us also pray for the gift of wisdom to know the Lord personally in our lives and to feel his love for us in our minds, hearts, bodies and souls. My prayer is that God bless us with his wisdom, but that he also fill us each with his joy, a lasting joy only he can give.

In Christ’s peace, Fr. Leo